Lacchimdeviki O Lekkundi Review

In a con comedy thriller, is it pardonable to show a sophisticated fraudster as having no clue about the rules of the bank he is trying to con?  And what is that bank manager (played by Jayaprakash Reddy) breaking into an Allu Arjun parody (Matladukovatal lev..) in the reasonably good interval scene.  Why this obsession with parodies among Telugu directors?

Lavanya Tripathi is a bank employee, who worships her bank because her dead parents worked there.  Naveen Chandra works as a helpdesk employee in the same bank and his undisciplined ways irk her.  Eventually, she develops interest in him for showing his exceptional Chota K Naidu talent of clicking pics on a smart phone!  Meanwhile, Naveen Chandra has been trapped by Ajay and Bhanu Sri and is coerced into doing their malfeasance bidding.

Naveen will be killed if he doesn't pass over the account details of unclaimed deposits and for this he has to befriend the heroine, who is the only employee apart from the manager who is in the know of the things.  The story takes a twist when JP, the manager, sees through the plot and exposes Ajay and his girl friend's fraud.

The story line looks OK, and the character of the heroine comprising of three shades is pretty much meaty.  However, what comes across as a strength on paper turns out to be a weakness on celluloid.

To be sure, Naveen Chandra's character is not well detailed.  He claims to be an 'amayakudu', but nowhere does he show mortal fear or paranoia on his face.  He is breezy, in fact!  Even when he is cheated, there is no much facial transformation!  Lavanya plays a character with 3 shades, but two of the shades (one of 'devata' and the other one of 'dayyam') are caricaturish with hardly any excitement built around them.

The technical aspects are a let down, precipitating the crisis for the film. The cinematography barely passes muster. MM Keeravani's music needed to be done justice.  A song in the climax for JP is an example of taking quirks to unwarranted extremes.

Any other could have done Naveen Chandra's role.  Lavanya has it in her to pull off distinct roles like that of a sincere 'dayyam' or comedy 'dayyam' or whatever with confidence.  With first-rate cinematography and props like make-up, she would have rocked it in the two unusual shades.  Shankar Melkote is seen in a forgettable cameo.

JP is one actor who manages to evoke some laughs.  On the other hand, Sampoornesh Babu's guest appearance is unwelcome and sans substance.

Ajay is a character who comes unfleshed.  Brahmaji as a light-hearted cop is not interesting.

Verdict: A film that shows promise at interval bang, but soon fritters away in the next moment like a whimper.

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